Installing Lion on a Dell Inspiron 1720 / 1520 [VERSION 2]

[Drag0nFly]

@ellnic - I want to send a gazillion thanks for the AppleACPIPlatform.kext and IOPCIFamily.kext rollback tip. I've been trying for months to get a Core2Duo laptop (T7300)--965/82801H/ICH8 w/ Nvidia GeForce 8400 M G gfx card up and running and could not get it past this very early point in the boot process.

I basically have my system--although it's a Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8410 (so yeah, not a Dell -my apologies!, but it should be somewhat similar) working with audio, synaptics trackpad+keyboard and QE/CI working for the 8400 M G (albeit with one "minor" caveat):

What really bugs me, though, is that only an external DVI display works, not the internal LCD (LVDS) panel which supports 1680x1050. It is detected automatically with GraphicsEnabler=Yes in Chimera 1.7.0. Using GraphicsEnabler=No one gets 1024x768, but obviously with no QE/QI making the system not really usable.

I've done a whole bunch of DSDT-wrangling with DSDTSE; but am unable to make a dent in the problem of OS X (10.7.2) not detecting the laptop's LCD screen. After spending the last couple of weeks I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone of you guys have any tips on this.

The latest one I tried was this "Device (VID)" edit -

Device (VID) 
            {
                Name (_ADR, 0x00020000)
                Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)
                {
                    Store (Package (0x30)
                        {
                            "device_type", 
                            Buffer (0x08)
                            {
                                "display"
                            }, 
                            "model", 
                            Buffer (0x10)
                            {
                                "Intel GMA X3100"
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,HasPanel", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,Haslid", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,SelfRefreshSupported", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,backlight-control", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL00,blackscreen-preferences", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x08
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,BacklightIntensity", 
                            Unicode ("d"), 
                            "AAPL01,blackscreen-preferences", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x08
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,DataJustify", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Depth", 
                            Unicode (" "), 
                            "AAPL01,Dither", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,DualLink", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Height", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x20, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Interlace", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Inverter", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,InverterCurrent", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,InverterFrequency", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x08, 0x52, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,LinkFormat", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,LinkType", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Pipe", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,PixelFormat", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }, 
                            "AAPL01,Refresh", 
                            Unicode (";"), 
                            "AAPL01,Stretched", 
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
                            }
                        }, Local0)
                    DTGP (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, RefOf (Local0))
                    Return (Local0)
                }
                Method (_DOS, 1, NotSerialized)
                {
                    Store (Arg0, MIS4)
                    SMI (0x9E, MIS4)
                }
                Method (_DOD, 0, NotSerialized)
                {
                    Return (Package (0x04)
                    {
                        0x00010100, 
                        0x00010200, 
                        0x00010400, 
                        0x00010300
                    })
                }

However, I know I must be doing something wrong, or the DSDT editor is giving me static. When I compile it successfully and subsequently re-open the generated dsdt.aml my edits are gone! I have checked and re-checked this several times, making sure it is the right file; diff-ing the one recently generated in the DSDTSE directory with the one copied to /Extra (and ~/Desktop)

I did not have a Device (VID) section in my extracted DSDT though. Closest I came wrt. some of the methods in the hack was the Device (VGA)--which I am not even sure is the right one. This DSDT business has me feeling like I am shooting in the dark basically using a prop-gun.

I am attaching some of my dsl & aml files in case someone here feels the urge to try and sanity-check them!

I've invested quite some time in this and would really like to be able to get this thing working on the laptop.

 

[Drag0nFly]

@ Dragonfly - I modified your vanilla DSDT and took out the DVI device and method from VGA. See if that works. If not, let me know and I can try again. I recall working on a Lifebook DSDT for someone else not too long ago.

modified.vanilla.dsdt.aml

Thanks for looking into this! I tried the modified vanilla DSDT, but unfortunately the behavior is still the same. Tried booting with GraphicsEnabler=No and GraphicsEnabler=Yes

It's a quite curious problem--I would have thought the major hurdle was OS X recognizing the graphics adapter, and considering the LVDS has never been an issue in Linux it is kind of strange.

 

[zb370]

So I have got almost a fully functioning hackbook on an Inspiron 1525. Built in monitor is working perfectly with QE/CI working when I boot into 32bit. The only problem is that I can't get the built in HDMI out to work. There is an option sound preference pane with my VoodooHDA kext for HDMI audio output but when I plug it in to my tv, no output is detected. Anyone get it to work?

 

[kidaz]

Hi to All!!!


First of all say thanks for this excelent Guide.

I Followed all the steps up to 17. Boot with the USB stick on and with arch=386 -x -v

But unafortunatelly can´t boot i have these:

nstat_lookup_entry failed: 2
nstat_lookup_entry failed: 3
Previous shutdown cause: 3
DSMOS has arrived

Could you let me know what´s wrong??? I Have Inspirion 1720 with T5750.

Is the trouble related with DSDT????

Thanks in Advance

I got EXACTLY the same thing. The solution was to boot without the "-x" argument because (i guess) it sets GraphicsEnabler=No! Instead of "arch=i386 -x -v" just do "-v" or "arch=i386 -v".

 

[m500sesp]

The installation went well.
I can start with -x -v
But if I try to start -x I get this kernel Panic.
Thanks in advance. As a side note. This is installed on the second drive bay.
Thanks in advance.

http://imgur.com/3ASO7
The image doesn't want to view using the tags.

 

[m500sesp]

I can not get my USB to boot. I have redone my USB stick several times following the instructions with no luck. I set it to boot to USB and it just sits at a blinking curser. I have done the unibeast and can get it to start to boot off the usb but I can not get it to boot all the way to the installer screen with out it stopping somewhere. Is it possible that my USB stick / Dell 1720 is not liking booting with the multiple partition USB Stick?
Thanks,
Sam

 

[m500sesp]

Yes, the Uniboot method is just one partition is just one partition, where as these instructions have you create two partitions using the GUID.
Thanks

 

[m500sesp]

Thanks for the reply,
I did install Chameleon, thanks for asking. I tried installing it on the "boot" partition and the "Lion_USB" partition.
So I bought a new 8 GB memory stick. Same result. Gets to where chameleon should load and sits with a blinking curser. As a side note Best Buy has an 8 GB SanDisk onsale for 7.99 if your in a pinch and don't want to wait for delivery.
I also did a chameleon rescue type bootable usb stick and that worked fine.
I also have a USB Stick that I made into a Hiren Boot USB Stick. That works fine.
As a side note I do have two hard drives. But seems like that others have two hard drives as that is what is suggested in the original post.
Today I am going to do a Unibeast. What would need to be added or taken away for that to get my 1720 to boot and install lion? Once I get it installed and booting I'm confident I can get the proper kexts installed that need to be.
Thanks

 

[m500sesp]

I had only installed it as a last ditch type effort. On the other partition. It just seems like it doesn't want to boot with the two partitions.
Thanks

 

[m500sesp]

So I've tried several different Chameleon boot type set ups for USB. And it seems that I can not make the magic happen when ever I have any USB's with Dual partition's.
I've done a bit of reading on it and I wonder if I am doing the partitioning correctly. Whenever I do the partition it does create the EFI hidden partition. Am I doing something wrong that that partition should be created? It seems that when the machine boots it doesn't look at the partition that has the Chameleon stuff on it.
And I have tried the stick I've been trying to create on several other computers with the same result.
Is it possible that the disk utility on Leopard is doing something that I am not expecting? That's the machine I have set up to do my OSX86 stuff with.
Thanks